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Daisy Ruiz’s illustrated South Bronx tale
Daisy Ruiz, Illustration ’16, has released her first book, “Gordita: Built Like This.” In this illustrated long-form comic, a Chicana Bronx teen is bullied for not being curvy, but is helped by friends and mentors. The plot mirrors the author’s own middle school experiences and offers lots of good advice to victims and to folks…
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Elaine Drew: Actor, Tailor, Medieval Writer
After two novels that take readers back 1300 years to early medieval England, Elaine Drew has just released a lavishly illustrated short story from the same period, A Knight’s Bad Day. Another is in the works. Drew had a bachelor’s in English from Emory University and had worked in public relations for General Electric before…
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The Radical Act of Repair: Artful, Visible Mending
It may be a radical idea, but you don’t always need to hide your mending. Your stitching can be admired. Students and faculty members recently participated in “Radical Acts of Repair,” a workshop featuring noted textile artist Celia Pym remotely from London. It explored darning and the art of textile repair. Round patched darning techniques…
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From Graffiti to Cornfields, Sarah Merenda Has Customers’ Walls Covered
Sarah Merenda’s Fine Arts teacher, Prof. Marcy Rosenblat, told Merenda that she really needed to “work big.” Prof. Rosenblat was right, but she had no idea how big. Merenda entered FIT as a graffiti artist and skilled wallpaper hanger. Indeed she had been working large. But the encouragement to continue with large canvases confirmed her…